4:29 PM
by Lovat
Summary: But Roxas couldn't just give in. Axel would be there soon, and he'd help Roxas, and then they'd both get away, and everything would be okay.


4:29 PM

* * *

It was 4:00 PM, and Roxas was sitting at some unfamiliar table, holding an unfamiliar mug up to his lips, and gazing out the window at unfamiliar streets and people he'd probably never see again. They all went about their business, never once sparing the black-clad boy a glance, and never once allowing their thoughts to stray towards him.

It was 4:02 PM, and Roxas was thinking that he was very alone. But he wasn't. Children ran around by his table, squealing and nagging to their mothers and fathers about this or that; perhaps about the chocolate cake the café owners flaunted on their displays, or maybe even the pretty designs on the ends of the tables that Roxas himself had noticed as he waited for his dainty-looking waitress to bring him his coffee.

As if called, the girl; Naminé, her nametag declared, appeared, all smiles and perfect teeth, and looking so colorless it seemed as if she'd been dunked in bleach when she was small. Except for her eyes. Roxas decided that when she was dunked in that big tub of bleach, she kept her eyes tightly closed, because they were a brilliant shade of blue that rivaled his, and the sky, and the ocean, and even Sor—

"Hello," she smiled that perfect-toothed smile, and fiddled with the small notepad in her hands. He could see that though her skin looked soft, her fingers were slightly callused and skilled. He decided that she must be an artist. Perhaps a musician? Or maybe a painter. "Can I get you anything else?"

Roxas didn't like Naminé. Her perfection annoyed and irked him. The white sundress she wore over ivory skin clashed with the black Roxas wore over his own sunburned and permanently bruised-looking skin. They looked to be too different; Naminé too perfect and innocent and Roxas didn't like it.

He also didn't like that she was keeping his attention away from the clock. In a sudden surge of panic, he gazed down at his watch, and bit his lip when he noticed the time. 4:15 already? He was losing track.

"Excuse me, sir? Do you need anything els—"

"No."

Naminé blinked over at him, her perfect smile faltering, and Roxas couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"I'm okay, please leave." She looked like she wanted to say something in reply, but she simply attached stronger tape to the ends of her lips, and then fled back towards the front, where a brunette girl with odd wispy strands of hair seemed to be waiting.

Roxas didn't wait to see the disapproving and annoyed look she shot him as she wrapped her arm around the blonde girl and moved away. His attention was too heavily focused out the window, and on his watch.

It was 4:18 PM, and Roxas could see a black cloaked figure looking around outside.

_Shit._

"Axel…" Roxas murmured nervously, gazing at his watch and wishing the hands would move faster. But they didn't. And instead, the black-clad figure outside decided to start moving. Roxas adjusted the hood on his head, trying to hide his face and watch the cloaked figure at once.

They were heading to the café.

"Fuck!" Frantic eyes gazed around, and he got up out of his seat quickly, leaving his mug on the table as he tried to move about the area. The cloaked person took their hood down when scolded by an annoyed waitress, revealing purple-gray hair pulled into a large, and rather dramatized, sweep bang, and an emotionless eye that seemed to be devouring the area, gazing about suspiciously.

Shit. Fuck.

Zexion. He was one of the best trackers in the Organization, but he hardly ever went out on field work. If they sent Zexion, they meant serious business.

Meaning, Roxas was fucked.

As the scientist moved away to tour the café, blatantly ignoring the calls of "ex_cuse_ me, sir, but we're going to have to ask you to leave!", Roxas seized his chance and slipped out the glass door, heart pounding in his ears and eyes wide and dilated with adrenaline.

It was 4:21 PM, and Roxas seemed to be heading out with his life in check. All he needed to do was hang tight until 4:30. That was when Axel would come. He'd promised Roxas that he'd be there at 4:30. No sooner, no later. Roxas was just a littler nervous that Axel wouldn't be able to find him if he wasn't in the café. But he'd figure it out. Axel was smart, and knew Roxas well. All he needed to do was find a place to hide out until Axel came to fin—

"Roxas."

The blond stopped moving, and breathing, and thinking. Everything was wiped clean by the familiar voice that always had sent chills down his spine.

Saïx was there, his mouth curved into a sadistic smile, and his eyes narrowed into canine-looking slits. He looked way too pleased, but Roxas couldn't blame him. He'd caught him.

"It seems as if I've found you." He extended an arm. "Why don't we end this silly race? You come with me now, and I'm sure the Superior will be much more lenient."

But Roxas couldn't just give in. Axel would be there soon, and he'd help Roxas, and then they'd both get away, and everything would be okay.

A bullet was implanted into the wall by Roxas' head, and he turned dazed eyes towards the scarred man that was coming to stand beside Saïx. People were screaming now, and most were running away. A few, however, seemed interested, and he caught snippets of a conversation that mentioned 911. But his attention was focused mostly on the two figures in front of him.

Saïx and Xigbar; Xemnas' favorites. Roxas really was fucked, wasn't he?

The older man sent a grin his way, and then pointed his gun at Roxas' head. "Long time no see, huh, Rox?"

It was 4:25 PM, and Roxas was running for his life, panting and gasping and running down alleyways and knocking people over as he went because God _damn _it, he didn't have any fucking time for an obstacle course!

It was 4:27 PM, and he could hear a few shouts behind him, other members racing along beside and behind him, boxing him in like an animal in a cage and forcing his feet faster and faster.

It was 4:28 PM, and Roxas kept telling himself that it was almost over. Axel would be there in just a few minutes! All he had to do was keep running. Really, he would come. He said he would come, right? Right? Right. Roxas trusted Axel, and Axel said he would come, so he had to.

He ran right into a dead end, and he cursed loudly and quickly went to turn and hopefully flee the alley before they got too close. But it was too late. He could see Xigbar at the end of the tunnel, and he was walking up to him slowly, gun pointed and aimed right at his chest.

Right at his heart.

"It sucks that this has to happen, doesn't it, Sora?"

Roxas opened his mouth to yell and scream and tell him; "I'm _NOT _Sora! You need to let me go!" but he was silenced by a single bullet.

It was 4:29 PM, and Roxas lay dead on his back. Blood seeped into the ground and the soil and the clothes on his back. Xigbar stood above him, muttering something about how cracked the Organization was, and how it really was tragic when members turned on each other.

Roxas never did get to see Axel. The redhead made it to the café at 4:30 PM, a car parked outside and a large, dangerous wheel in his hand. He gazed around the café, calling out Roxas' name, but no one but the authorities came, called in because of a shooting.

He didn't leave until 4:40 PM, escorted out in handcuffs and struggling tooth and nail with two police officers.

And by then things had long since ended.


End file.
